Hope Where There Is None
by Jacen200015
Summary: The homeworld of a familiar character is being torn apart...


The ground shook beneath the young man's feet as he walked toward a house that was almost as big as a palace and was as black as a starless night. He stumbled the rest of the way to the gate, across the barren ground. His light red, shoulder length, hair was swept up by a mighty gust of cold wind as the gate opened with a loud creak.

"You're late!" A gruff voice snapped irritably as soon as the man entered.

"I apologize, Ballack." The man responded calmly.

Ballack's stern features softened as he motioned his guest forward down the hall to a sitting area. "These are perilous times Ojin. We must not waste the time we still have."

Their soft footfalls echoed through the long barren hallway. The floor and walls were both made of the same black stone with a glimmer of straight, silver lines.

The sitting room held a few chairs that sat near a burning fire that fought off the chill. A small table made out of Ebon wood sat in between the fire and chairs. On the table sat a red teapot, along with two green cups that had weird carvings on them.

Ojin sat down while Ballack poured them both a hot cup of tea. "We lost another village earlier today, there were no survivors." Ballack informed him sorrowfully.

Ojin closed his gray eyes briefly as he took in the news. "Five villages destroyed in three days." He opened his eyes and shook his head despairingly. "My researchers and I have been working day and night to find out why this is happening but we keep coming to a dead end."

Ballack handed Ojin a cup and sat down in a chair across from him. "What is your opinion on this?"

Ojin looked at Ballack's wizened features and then into his deep blue eyes that held decades of wisdom. "I believe our planet is going through a phase, a rebirth."

Ballack sipped his tea in thought and before speaking. "So it seems. Tell me," he said, changing the subject, "how is your wife doing? I hear that you'll be having a new addition to your family soon."

"She is well. Our baby is due any day now." Ojin replied, a small smile appearing on is face.

"That is good news. Both of you will be fine parents." Ballack remarked with a twitch of a smile on his lips.

"Yes. " Ojin said softly. "Yes we will." He set his cup down on the table, his face becoming troubled. "If we survive."

Ballack stroked his short, white, beard absently. "Perhaps there is a way we can."

Ojin looked toward the blazing fire in the fireplace. "I can't see how. All I see is death and destruction."

"We can send the prototype beacon into orbit and have it send out a distress call." Ballack continued, ignoring Ojin's lament.

"What if no one is out there to receive it? What if help arrives to late? What if it only brings more trouble?" Ojin questioned.

"Ojin you must be strong for your wife and child. I've known you since you were a tiny baby and not once have you ever given up. Don't give up now."

Ojin hung his head, hot tears shimmering in his eyes. "It is hard, I don't think I can handle it. We can't fight what is happening, nor can we know when and where the next eruption, quake, or flood will occur. Even if help did arrive in time I won't leave. This is my home, I was born here and I will die here."

"What of your child? Would you deny him a chance to live? To have a father and a mother?" Ballack asked.

A loud snicker erupted from behind Ojin and Mallack and they both turned in their seat's to see who it was.

"Of course he would." Their unwelcome visitor declared.

Ojin narrowed his gaze in a menacing manner. "What are you doing here Craayt?"

Craayt's lips formed a smile as he walked around them. "Oh I thought that I would just drop in." His dark brown eyes gleaming with a hidden agenda.

Mallack frowned as he responded. "No one who has been banished ever, and I repeat, ever, drops by unless they want revenge."

Craayt gave Mallack a sad look and placed his scarred right hand against his chest. "You wound me, I never did anything to warrant banishment."

"Oh really? Well let me tell you why then." Ojin snapped, struggling to keep his anger in check. "You are a thief, terrorist, and a killer."

Craayt grinned, showing his crooked, dirty teeth. "I'm flattered. Now where was I? Oh yes, why I am here." He smoothed back his thin gray hair and stood facing the fireplace. "You see, I wanted to thank you for breaking up my group with those files you discovered."

Ojin's face began to pale as fear worked into his stomach.

"What are you planning Craayt?" Mallack asked, tensing as Craayt took a metal thong from its resting place against the fireplace and begin to stoke the fire.

"Be quite old man! This is between Ojin and me!" Craayt snapped. "I found a lot of followers while I was in exile." He continued, "When the time was ripe and my spies reported back to me, I sent my plans into motion. Your darling wife is now in our hands."

Ojin's eyes shone with anger as he sprang from his chair and lunged at Craayt...

A young boy with bright blue eyes looked up from his meditation to look out of the small window in his cabin. Outside the stars were flying by, creating colorful lines as the ship traveled in hyperspace. Slowly he stood up, his face emotionless, as he walked over to the window. A vision flashed before his eyes of a planet being torn apart by natural disasters and just as quickly it was gone. /Master./ He inquired through their master-padawan bond.

/Yes padawan?/

/Do planets being torn apart by natural disasters count as a vision?/

The Jedi master was silent for a couple of minutes before he replied. /I wouldn't worry about it. Now go get some sleep./

/Yes Master./ The boy answered and went to his cot.

...

Craayt swung around and hit Ojin hard in the side with the burning hot thong.

Hissing between his teeth, Ojin placed his left hand on his burning side.

"Oh did that hurt?" Craayt said sarcastically. "Well you'll hurt a lot more by the time I'm through with you."

"Ojin, catch!" Mallack shouted as he threw Ojin a gleaming silver sword.

Ojin caught the sword with his right hand and stood in a defensive stance. "If the death sentence had not been outlawed then you would be dead by now."

"Is that a threat?" Craayt asked, circling around Ojin.

"Possibly. Now where is my wife?" Ojin asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Do you honestly think that I would tell you?" Craayt retorted.

"No but I had to try." Ojin answered just as the floor began to tremble underneath their feet.

Craayt took that opportunity to attack Ojin and was swiftly blocked.

"I'm not that easy to kill." Ojin told him as the quake grew stronger and loose objects began to fall to the floor as they were rattled from their perches.

"We need to get out of here!" Mallack shouted, fear in his voice. Without waiting to see if Ojin was following him, Mallack hurried away as fast as he could.

"Your friend is a coward." Craayt sneered in disgust.

"Look who's talking." Ojin replied as he blocked an incoming strike at his head and kicked Craayt in the side. "Using my wife as a bartering chip is a sign of cowardice. Well let me tell you something…that is not going to save your pathetic hide."

Craayt's eyes burned with rage and he began to attack Ojin with a relentless fury.

Cracks began appearing on the floor and walls and then a small portion of the floor was blown outward right behind Ojin.

...

The Jedi Master closed his eyes and absently stroked his stubby beard. _Why would he have a vision of a planet? _he wondered to himself. Stretching out into the Force he felt for any signs of a nearby planet that was in the midst of change. After a half hour he felt something, a large disturbance in the Force around a planet. His eyes shot open as he felt a surge of raw, untapped power on the planet from an untrained Force user. "Now it makes sense." He added quietly as he went to change the ship's heading.

...

Ojin stumbled backwards and was caught in the back by dozens of splinters from the wood table that had shattered when the stone floor erupted underneath it. Craayt's eyes gleamed with anticipation as Ojin fell onto the floor, moaning with pain. Craayt raised his weapon over his head and plunged it at Ojin's vulnerable body.

Mallack came back into the room at a run and aiming a battered blaster at Craayt he fired.

As soon as the blasterbolt struck home, Craayt had plunged his weapon into Ojin's body.

Mallack ran over to Ojin, rolled Craayt's lifeless body off of Ojin and began to examine Ojin.

"Mallack." Ojin croaked out, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as he turned his head to look at his friend.

"Shh, don't talk, save your strength." Mallack told him soothingly as he tore a piece of his tunic and began to apply pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding.

The floor rocked beneath them as another tremor hit. "Go find Reena. Tell her. Tell her I'm sorry."

Mallack frowned as Ojin closed his eyes. "Don't fall asleep Ojin, hang in there." No sooner had he finished speaking when the entire room erupted as the ground rose and opened. The house and everyone in it was destroyed instantly as the new volcano became active.

...

The bearded Jedi closed his eyes as he felt the untrained Force user's life signature dim and then was no more. "We're to late." Just as soon as the Force strong person died, a new one took its place, young and shining brightly. The Jedi's eyes snapped open and with new determination, urged the ship to descend faster to the planet's surface.

...

Reena looked at her baby son's small face, the pain of childbirth shoved to a corner as she beheld the tiny child that she had brought into the world. "My little Obi." Shouting was heard outside and another tremor shook the ground. Reena's face paled, clutching her baby protectively to her chest. She looked longingly at the door, wishing to run out and run as far away as she could but nothing she could do would save her and others from the fate that was going to befall them. Obi remained sound asleep in her arms, unaware of the disaster going on around him.

Thirty minutes later Reena made a decision. Getting out of bed, she painfully made her way over to the closet to find a warm coat for her and a thick warm blanket to wrap her son in. She felt a wave of dizziness as she made it back to the bed and carefully, without waking Obi up, wrapped Obi in the dark brown blanket. The ground trembled as another quake hit and Reena quickly scooped Obi into her arms and headed for the door. Outside was chaos, people were running around like mad and what trees and bushes there were had burst into flames. Checking to make sure there were no guards, Reena made a run for it.

...

The Jedi Master landed the ship on the ground and headed to the ramp where his padawan was waiting.

The Jedi padawan was staring in horror at the destruction that lay before him as his master reached him. The ground was black and cracked and any trees and shrubs were badly burned. The sky was red with black clouds that could be smoke, rising into the sky. Buildings were flattened and the dead were horribably mutilated.

The Jedi master placed his hand on his apprentice's shoulder and sent waves of soothing Force energy through their bond. "You can stay in the ship if you wish to." He suggested.

His apprentice shook his head, his blue eyes looking up at his master. "I can do this." He managed to say.

The apprentice's master nodded and they continued down the ramp toward the Force sensitive they felt.

...

Reena kept running as fast as she could with no idea on where to head. She stumbled a few times as the ground shook but was able to regain her balance and continue on. Obi had woken up a few seconds before and was crying. "It'll be ok Obi." She said, just as she was knocked off her feet when the ground actually shifted beneath her as if she had been in the ocean at the beach. On the ground, Reena checked Obi for any injuries and sighed in relief when he seemed fine. Obi began screaming louder, tears streaming down his face as his mother cuddled him and tried to sooth him.

In the distance Reena saw a humongous volcano looming, shooting fire and ash into the sky. "I'm so sorry Obi." She whispered as despair filled her heart.

...

"Master, I have a bad feeling about this."

The boy's master smiled and shook his head as they walked. "Padawan the planet is falling apart, of course you would have a bad feeling."

"I don't think so, it's something more." The boy said, his face betraying his mounting fear."

"Focus on the here and now padawan, don't let yourself be distracted by fear."

The boy bit his bottom lip and kept silent as they continued to walk.

Ten minutes later they found a woman sitting next to a blackened tree, holding a baby that refused to be comforted.

Reena turned her head when she saw the shadow of someone that was coming up beside her. "You're not from around here." She remarked, noting their strange clothing.

The tall man gave a short bow, followed by a short bow by the shorter one. "You are right. I am Master Qui-Gon Jinn and this is my padawan Xanatos.

Reena gave a weak smile and struggled to stand up, her legs feeling numb. "I'm Reena Kenobi. This is my son Obi." She said in introduction. "Have you come to help us?"

"We will do what we can." Qui-Gon told her. We'll take you both to our ship and then try to rescue as many people as possible.

Xanatos looked at the little baby, awed by the fact that something that small could make a ton of noise. "Can I hold him for you?" Xanatos asked somewhat shyly.

Reena rocked Obi for a few more seconds before nodding, obviously exhausted.

Within seconds Xanatos was holding Obi in his arms and gently rocking him. Obi's cries began to soften, his face still red from his screaming.

"Your padawan has a way with children." Reena remarked, relaxing as Obi's sobs subsided.

"That he does." Qui-Gon answered, impressed by how quickly Xanatos got Obi to calm down. _I'll need to talk about that to him later. He has been full of surprises lately._ "We should be going."

Reena nodded and began to walk forward only to have her legs buckle beneath her.

Qui-Gon caught her and supported her as they began to walk to the ship.

When they got about ten feet to the ship they discovered to their dismay that the ground had split, cutting them off completely from their ship.

Xanatos quickly analyzed the situation and came up with a plan. "I have an idea Master. Can you Force lift the ship over to us?"

"I could." Qui-Gon responded. Closing his eyes, Qui-Gon concentrated on lifting the ship and bringing it to them.

Reena watched in amazement as the ship began to lift and then minutes later settle on the other side of the gorge. "Wow."

Xanatos immediately ran for the ship, brought the ramp down and boarded the ship

Qui-Gon was helping Reena to the ship when the ground shook again, even worse then it had been before. Qui-Gon's warning sense flared as he saw the distinct form in the horizon coming at them from behind. The wind began to tug furiously at them as they struggled to make it to the ship's ramp.

Reena began to cough violently as the toxic winds swept around her and as she breathed in.

Qui-Gon held his breath as they got to the ramp, now carrying Reena in his arms. Entering the ship Qui-Gon closed the ramp and brought Reena to the small medroom aboard the ship.

Xanatos made a small bed in a basket for Obi and after making sure it was secure, headed for the cockpit.

As soon as he felt his master's presence aboard the ship, Xanatos began the ship's takeoff sequence.

Thirty minutes later Qui-Gon entered the cockpit and sat in the copilot's chair. He watched as Xanatos just sat there, looking at the planet that was tearing itself apart.

"They're all gone." Xanatos said in a pained whisper.

Qui-Gon nodded his head. "We did what we could."

Xanatos bowed his head and closed his eyes. Twenty minutes ago they had attempted to rescue a small settlement that was sitting near the bottom of a volcano but were unable to land because of the lava flow and flying smoke and ash. By the time they had retreated from their attempt, the settlement was gone and so was every single inhabitant on the planet. To make things harder, the child's mother had had a sudden seizure and had died five minutes later.

"Go get some rest Xanatos, I'll take over from here."

Xanatos numbly nodded and left the cockpit to head for the cabin. Inside his cabin where he had placed the baby's bed near his bed, Xanatos found Obi whimpering, face streaked with tears.

Picking Obi up, Xanatos gently began to rock him, humming a lullaby that he faintly remembered his own mother sing to him.


End file.
